Career
He played at representative level for Dominion XIII, and Canterbury, and at club level for Marist, and the English clubs Wigan, Keighley, and Bradford Northern (captain), as a wing, centre, stand-off/five-eighth, or scrum-half/halfback, id est (that is) number 2 or 5, 3 or 4, 6, or 7, and coaching at club level for Bradford Northern (assistant), and Bramley, he died in Leeds. Spillane played in Canterbury"s 26-66 defeat by Auckland in the 1928 New Zealand rugby league season Northern Union Cup in Auckland. Having become a well-known player and five-eighth for the Marist senior team, he signed on with English club Wigan in October 1929.
Spillane played scrum-half/halfback in Dominion XIII"s 6-3 victory over France at Stadium Municipal, Toulouse on Sunday 21 March 1937.
Spillane married Edith Coyle in Bradford in 1938. He worked as an assistant coach at Bradford before being appointed Bramley"s head coach.